let's be clear about this.

it's not like nafta accidentally gutted the manufacturing sector; this was an entirely purposeful project, for the purpose of maximizing revenue for shareholders. this much is clear: nafta was supposed to outsource jobs to mexico. that was the purpose of the agreement.

so, when these talking heads make the circuits through the corporate media, they're right to say it was a success - it has successfully shifted production to mexico, which has weaker labour standards and weaker environmental laws to get in the way of profit maximization. that's what it intended to do, and it's been a great success in doing it. they're right. no ambiguities.

but, there were supposed to be all these other jobs created, instead. laid-off workers were supposed to retrain for higher paying jobs in more technical industries. it's never been entirely clear whether anybody really thought this would happen or not, but by now it's clear enough that it hasn't and it isn't going to. but, this was always approached as a kind of corollary, a sort of necessary cost involved in moving production to more profitable jurisdictions, which was the actual purpose of the deal.

now, we have all of these laid-off workers creating all kinds of unrest. the system is at least working in directing this unrest towards race riots instead of towards bankers. but, it's not an ideal situation. the ideal way to eliminate social unrest is to create jobs and send these people to work.

it follows that capital must acknowledge that mistakes have been made and that some steps must be taken to redistribute some wealth to prevent further unrest. in recent history, democrats have been more likely to argue for a maintenance of the welfare state to keep this unrest in check, whereas republicans have pushed through "poor laws" under the guise of welfare reform, officially under the delusions of market theory. but, we may be in the process of a role reversal.

to be clear: i don't expect trump to be a champion of anybody except the banks. but, given it's flirtation with steve bannon, the party may be more keenly aware of the need to create jobs for these people, and the corollaries of failing to do so, than you think.